Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
  • G10H3/00—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means
  • G10H3/12—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument
  • G10H3/14—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument using mechanically actuated vibrators with pick-up means
  • G10H3/143—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument using mechanically actuated vibrators with pick-up means characterised by the use of a piezoelectric or magneto-strictive transducer
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
  • G10H3/00—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means
  • G10H3/12—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
  • G10H3/00—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means
  • G10H3/03—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using pick-up means for reading recorded waves, e.g. on rotating discs drums, tapes or wires
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
  • G10H3/00—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means
  • G10H3/12—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument
  • G10H3/14—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument using mechanically actuated vibrators with pick-up means
  • G10H3/18—Instruments in which the tones are generated by electromechanical means using mechanical resonant generators, e.g. strings or percussive instruments, the tones of which are picked up by electromechanical transducers, the electrical signals being further manipulated or amplified and subsequently converted to sound by a loudspeaker or equivalent instrument using mechanically actuated vibrators with pick-up means using a string, e.g. electric guitar
  • G10H3/186—Means for processing the signal picked up from the strings
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
  • G10H2230/00—General physical, ergonomic or hardware implementation of electrophonic musical tools or instruments, e.g. shape or architecture
  • G10H2230/045—Special instrument [spint], i.e. mimicking the ergonomy, shape, sound or other characteristic of a specific acoustic musical instrument category
  • G10H2230/251—Spint percussion, i.e. mimicking percussion instruments; Electrophonic musical instruments with percussion instrument features; Electrophonic aspects of acoustic percussion instruments or MIDI-like control therefor
  • G10H2230/321—Spint cymbal, i.e. mimicking thin center-held gong-like instruments made of copper-based alloys, e.g. ride cymbal, china cymbal, sizzle cymbal, swish cymbal, zill, i.e. finger cymbals

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates generally to musical instruments, and more particularly, to the electronic processing of sounds from musical instruments.
• Cymbals have traditionally been an acoustic-only instrument. For live performance in large spaces or recording sessions, microphones are commonly used to pick up their sound for subsequent amplification and/or recording, but the intent is generally "faithful" reproduction of the natural sound of the cymbals. Occasionally a moderate post-processing effect such as reverb or equalization is applied to tailor the cymbals' sound as required or desired.
• the cymbal system as described herein can use true metal cymbals or the like, providing drummers with the stick-on-metal feel they value. Sound level can be reduced to acceptable home levels by means of perforations in the cymbal metal if desired. Rather than using the cymbals as "triggers" for sampled sounds, the natural vibrations of the cymbals themselves are converted to electrical signals by means of close-range microphones, contact microphones, or other type (optical, magnetic, etc.) of pickup device, providing isolation of each cymbal's sound from other cymbals in the drum kit.
• the outputs of these pickups which can represent the amplitude, frequency and other characteristics of the vibrations, are then sent to a controller/signal processing unit where modifications to the natural sound of the cymbals can be performed.
• This provides users such as drummers with something that guitarists have long been accustomed to but drummers have never had: access to a wide range of tonal variations via electronic signal processing means while retaining all the natural expressiveness of their instrument's inherent acoustical vibrations.
• an electronic cymbal system includes a first pickup configured to generate an electrical signal representative of vibrations in a first cymbal, and a controller configured to receive the first electrical signal and to process the first electrical signal to generate an output.
• a controller includes a first input, a digital signal processor (DSP) configured to receive, through the first input, a first electrical signal representative of vibrations in a first cymbal, and to subject the first electrical signal to a digital signal processing technique, and a first output configured to output a version of the subjected first electrical signal.
• DSP digital signal processor
• the method includes detecting vibrations in a first cymbal, generating a first electrical signal representative of the detected vibrations, subjecting the first electrical signal to a digital signal processing technique, and outputting a version of the subjected first electrical signal.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic cymbal system 100 in accordance with one embodiment
• FIG. 1A is schematic diagram of a perforated cymbal lighting arrangement in accordance with one embodiment
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing portions of controller in accordance with one embodiment.
• FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method for implementing cymbal sound processing in accordance with one embodiment.
• Example embodiments are described herein in the context of an electronic cymbal system. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the example embodiments as illustrated in the
• a method comprising a series of process steps is implemented by a computer or a machine and those process steps can be stored as a series of instructions readable by the machine, they may be stored on a tangible medium such as a computer memory device (e.g., ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Eraseable Programmable Read Only Memory), FLASH Memory, Jump Drive, and the like), magnetic storage medium (e.g., tape, magnetic disk drive, and the like), optical storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, paper card, paper tape and the like) and other types of program memory.
• ROM Read Only Memory
• PROM Programmable Read Only Memory
• EEPROM Electrically Eraseable Programmable Read Only Memory
• FLASH Memory Jump Drive
• magnetic storage medium e.g., tape, magnetic disk drive, and the like
• optical storage medium e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, paper card, paper tape and the like
• FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic cymbal system 100.
• a controller is a controller for controlling the electronic cymbal system 100.
• the pickup 102 is coupled to a plurality of pickups 104 each serving to provide an electrical signal indicative of vibrations developed in an associated cymbal 106.
• the pickups 104 configured to detect features such as amplitude and frequency of vibrations and other cymbal vibration
• the cymbals 106 can be any known metallic (or other percussive material) instruments, in the form of hi -hat, ride or crash cymbals, which undergo vibrations when struck by an object such as a drumstick, mallet or the like. Further, in one embodiment, the cymbals 106 are perforated with multiple holes in order to reduce or otherwise alter their sound output.
• the connections between the pickups 104 and the controller 102 may be wireless.
• connections may be by way of cables 108, in which case such cables can serve the additional purpose of powering lights for providing functional or aesthetic illumination to the cymbals, using for example LEDs.
• cables 108 can serve the additional purpose of powering lights for providing functional or aesthetic illumination to the cymbals, using for example LEDs.
• FIG. 1A Such an arrangement is shown in which LEDs 110 mounted on a pickup 104 direct light 112 towards the bottom of cymbal 106 to illuminate the cymbal from below.
• Perforations 114 in cymbal 106 pass light from LEDs 112 upwards through the cymbal, allowing light 112a to emerge therethrough.
• the LEDs 112 may be of any desired color. Of course light sources other than LEDs are contemplated, including for instance incandescent bulbs and the like.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing portions of controller 102.
• operation of the controller 102 includes digitizing the real-time waveform of the cymbal's vibration, as detected by the pickups 104, in the form of for example voltage as a function of time. Frequency is implicit in this information.
• time-domain or frequency-domain (or any other) DSP techniques can be applied to achieve the various processing elements desired, like filtering, dynamic range processing, harmonic excitation and so on, as detailed further below.
• analog signals from pickups 104 arrive at input stages 202 of the controller and are passed to A-D converter 204 for conversion into the digital domain.
• the digital signals are then provided to digital signal processor (DSP) 206 for processing as described further below.
• DSP digital signal processor
• the signals are optionally converted back to the analog domain via D-A converter 208 and then passed to audio outputs 210 of the controller by way of output buffer(s) 212.
• controller 102 can output digital signals from DSP 206 without conversion to the analog domain.
• Controller 102 also includes a user interface (UI) microcontroller 216 or the like coupled to the DSP 206.
• UI user interface
• Microcontroller 216 is coupled to a memory 218 used for storage of data and code as necessary.
• Microcontroller 216 is also coupled to a UI 220, through which a user is able to provide input and instructions to the microcontroller 216 and controller 102 and to receive system information therefrom.
• the system information received can be conveyed in the form of lights (blinking LEDs, etc.), alphanumeric displays, display screens, sounds in the form of tones or pre-recorded or synthesized voices, and so on.
• controller 102 The various components of controller 102, shown independently for illustrative purposes only, might be combined in different ways.
• DSP 206 is shown separately from the A-D and D-A converters 204 and 206 and separately from the microcontroller 216. Depending on cost constraints, product feature set goals, product development strategy, component availability, and so on, however, some or all of these elements may be combined. Further, a powerful enough DSP 206 may incorporate the functionality of the UI microcontroller 216, dispensing with the need for a separate component.
• the UI microcontroller 216 may incorporate memory 218. It should be noted that some details of each of the various components are omitted for clarity.
• the DSP device can include its own dedicated memory (RAM, ROM, etc.) 221 as necessary to perform its functions.
• the memory can be a separate (or additional) component 221a, and can be expandable as desired.
• User interface 220 shown in more detail in FIG. 1 , includes means, such as knobs
• Each preset represents a combination of DSP parameters that provide a particular cymbal sound. Different presets might be tailored for each type of cymbal— hi -hat, ride, crash, etc. Dozens, scores, or hundreds of presets can be easily provided since they consume little memory space, each typically consisting of a few dozen or a few score parameter values. A user might select, via the buttons, knobs, or other controls, among presets like "crisp hi-hat”, “bright ride”, “gong crash” etc. depending on the desired sound and/or effect.
• Information about the currently-selected presets and various other system parameters can be indicated by common display technologies such as LED's, LCD's etc. as described above.
• Such information can take the form of lights (blinking LEDs, etc.), alphanumeric displays, display screens, sounds in the form of tones or pre-recorded or synthesized voices, and so on.
• the presets are stored in rewritable memory (RAM, Flash ROM, EEPROM, etc.), such as memories 218, 221 and/or 221a, then provision can be made for user-editing of the preset parameters, either via the on-board interface controls (knobs 222 and buttons 224, for example) or remotely from a desktop PC (not shown) via a standard interface such as USB, MIDI, Ethernet, and so on.
• Controller 102 also operates to manage the operation of the LEDs 110 (FIG. 1A), by way of light controller or driver 225. This operation can for example by synchronized to various rhythms or beats processed by DSP 206. Lighting control is provided by way of UI microcontroller 216 having an output that is coupled LEDs 100 or similar light sources.
• Controller 102 is also configured to receive inputs from electronic drums and other, auxiliary devices.
• the sounds produced by the drums for instance can be mixed with the sound of the cymbals by the DSP 206, with the resultant overall "kit mix" output for
• the signals from the cymbals and drums may be combined into a single integrated system with a consolidated user interface.
• the elements of the system shown here would be present, augmented by the trigger sensing, sample playback, etc. functions typical of electronic drum sets.
• auxiliary inputs are inputs for additional audio sources that can be mixed with the cymbal (and drum) sounds, typically from a play back device such as an mp3 player or the like, so that the user can practice by playing along with prerecorded music.
• FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method 300 for implementing cymbal sound processing in accordance with one embodiment.
• the method includes detecting, at 302, vibrations in a first cymbal, generating, at 304, a first electrical signal representative of the detected vibrations, subjecting, at 306, the first electrical signal to a digital signal processing technique, and outputting, at 308, a version of the subjected first electrical signal.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Electrophonic Musical Instruments (AREA)
• Auxiliary Devices For Music (AREA)

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Citations (5)

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• 2010
  • 2010-12-13 US US12/966,965 patent/US8497418B2/en active Active
• 2011
  • 2011-12-01 JP JP2013544532A patent/JP2013546026A/ja active Pending
  • 2011-12-01 CN CN201180067448XA patent/CN103380454A/zh active Pending
  • 2011-12-01 KR KR1020137017936A patent/KR20130101127A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-12-01 WO PCT/US2011/062964 patent/WO2012082392A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2011-12-06 TW TW100144879A patent/TWI479476B/zh active
• 2012
  • 2012-03-30 US US13/436,683 patent/US20120186419A1/en not_active Abandoned

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